


Backfired

by Kairyn



Series: Hair Like Fire [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Red-Haired Celebrimbor, Red-Headed Elf, Sansukh Narvi, Slight Implied Relationship, Were They or Weren't They
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-24 00:49:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8349697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairyn/pseuds/Kairyn
Summary: Revenge is a dish best served... wet?
 
Follow up of Method of Travel.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Because Narvi wasn't about to let that horse thing just go. She really should have planned for Khel being... well, Khel.

He paused as he exited his bath and blinked in surprise. His hand, which had been drying his hair with a towel -and getting it entirely tangled and wild in the process- froze mid-motion as he stood in the doorway. His eyes traveled up to his ceiling and he blinked again. He could only stare for several minutes before he nodded a little. "Impressive." He didn't move into the room and just looked at his bed now somehow affixed to the ceiling. The mattress and bedding was even perfectly in place and the curtains that normally hung around the bed were stretched instead from the floor to the ceiling in reverse. How it had been done, he wasn't sure (some mixture of sewing, fasteners and balance, he supposed). And it wasn't just the bed that had a new positioning either. His dresser, mirror, desk, chair, book case, and even his wash basin were now directly _above_ where they should have been.

It hadn't been like that when he'd gone to take a bath after a long stint in the forges. He was sure even he would have noticed something so significant as his room being upside down.

Of course, while very amusing, this did lead to some problems. Namely, he could not reach his clothing when it was on the ceiling and he was ill-dressed for wandering outside of his rooms. All he was wearing currently was a very light dressing gown that dipped down quite far in the front and with the golden light of late afternoon streaming through the windows, balconies, and open archways, it was far more see-through than he'd like. Luckily, he was an Elf and didn't mind nudity as such. It was just, not entirely appropriate either. Not in the current context.

He supposed he _could_ put on his old clothes but then made a face. They were filthy from the forges and he had just gotten clean. He wasn't in a hurry to get dressed in dirty clothes. So, that really only left one option.

He sighed and tossed his towel back into his bathing chamber and again wondered how this had all happened when he was just in the next room. It was indeed impressive. He'd have to remember to ask how it was done after he was properly attired and all. He ran his fingers through his hair to push it back from his face and then left his room.

He made an unwavering path through the halls until he reached a door not too far from his own. He knew of only one person who could pull of such a feat of engineering so quickly and quietly, although he was still baffled by it. He knocked on the door and tried to ignore the water dripping down his back from his still damp hair.

The door opened and he smiled at the Dwarf craftswoman who was standing there. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the hardly dressed, damp and disheveled Elf at her door. She couldn't help but be taken aback by just how much of him she could see, especially since the light behind him drew a very intriguing silhouette of his slender body. She forced her eyes up and swallowed hard at the mass of fire that was his hair. Her hand twitched with the need to tame it. It was obviously damp still as droplets of water were clinging to the strands that were over his shoulder and pushed messily away from his face to cascade down his back. She... had not anticipated this in her plans. "K-Khel! You're-you're barely dressed! You can't go... go walking around like, well, like that!" she sputtered as she waved to his very indecent state. 

His eyebrow went up and he folded his arms over his mostly exposed chest. "Oh no?" he asked. "Well, considering all my clothing seems to have found a new home on my ceiling, I'm afraid this is all I have for the moment. Would you happen to know anything about this little prank, _mellon-nin_?" His voice was light, pleasant even, and his eyes sparkled with mischief. 

Narvi tried to not show her annoyance that he was bloody _enjoying_ her revenge. That was not the way this was supposed to play out. She should not be more embarrassed than her victim. _Elves_. She should have known that he'd have no sense of shame. She cleared her throat and reached up to play with one of the braids coming off her cheek. "How should I know anything about what you Elves get up to?" she asked loftily.

Celebrimbor hummed a little and tilted his head, causing some water to fall from his hair to hit his collar bone and then trickle down. Narvi had to make a supreme effort to not follow its path with her eyes. Instead she disappeared into her room and returned with a towel that she threw at him. "At least dry off properly!" she snapped.

The Elf blinked a little but caught the towel easily. "I don't see why I should since I can't reach any of my things."

She scowled. He said that far too innocently for her liking. "If I help you get your things down will you dry off and get dressed?" she demanded. His blue eyes sparkled and he nodded. She huffed a little and went to get her tools. This had been a less than successful attempt to embarrass Khel. She would definitely have to re-think her plan of attack. She would need to factor in Elven Shamelessness next time. 

"I am quite curious as to how it was managed though," Celebrimbor said as Narvi grabbed up her tools that she had only just put down after attaching his things to the ceiling.

"I'm sure I don't know," Narvi said gruffly.

Celebrimbor pouted but Narvi ignored it with utter resolution. He was too good at getting information out of her when he pouted like that. He looked like some disappointed child all big eyed and innocent. Well, she wasn't feeling particularly forthcoming with her ideas just then so he could continue to wonder. He did hate to not know how she did something so that would have to be her revenge instead of the embarrassment that she was planning on. Of course, he might pester her but then what else was new?

"Come now, _mellon-nin_ , how was it done? I know you must have some idea..." he asked as he trailed behind her through the halls. 

"Nope," she said. "No idea."

"Narvi..."

"Khel," she replied, echoing his slight whine of disappointment perfectly.

His pout grew more pronounced for all the good it did him when Narvi was resolutely looking away. "You are cruel sometimes, my friend..." She snorted at that. He'd barely had a taste of what she could do when she really got in the mood to get revenge.


End file.
